Globalization and Thalassocracy

European Straits #10

Dear all,

It looks like the days of borders have come again. For a long period after World War II, free trade and low barriers contributed to sustaining an unprecedented level of shared prosperity. Now with Brexit, Trump’s election and the looming crisis in the Eurozone, we’re witnessing what William Janeway has called the 'Retreat from Hyper-Globalization’. Growing anger in Western electorates, a wider inequality gap and the rise of economic insecurity are leading to the end of international trade as we knew it.

On that path, the biggest countries are somewhat blinded by their own size, with their larger domestic market and diversified industries providing them with the illusion that they can go it alone in a divided world. Meanwhile, smaller territories are working harder on their strategic positioning to try and make the most of the new context. With a characteristic sense of urgency and cohesiveness, tiny states and dense cities are more prone to understanding the shifts in the glob…